Photos of the Day 11/15

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Smoke trails are seen as an Iron Dome missile intercepts a rocket which was launched from Gaza, near the southern town of Sderot. A Hamas rocket killed three Israelis north of the Gaza Strip, the first casualties from Israel as the Palestinian death toll rose to 15 in a military showdown lurching closer to all-out war with an invasion of the enclave. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

The 12th Gyalwang Drukpa, Jigme Pema Wangchen, (l.) poses with Kung-Fu trained nuns accompanying him at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Meyrin near Geneva. Tibetan Buddhist monk Jigme Pema Wangchen, head of the Drukpa school, one of the independent Sarma schools of Tibetan Buddhism is visiting the CERN during a two-day stay in Geneva. Valentin Flauraud/Reuters

Soldiers patrol the beach as they guard against turtle egg thieves at the La Flor Wildlife Refugee, during the arrival of Olive Ridley turtles, about 150 km (93 miles) south of Managua, Nicaragua. According to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA), La Flor is one of seven beaches in Central America where more than 100,000 Olive Ridley turtles nest each year. Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters

Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford is pictured at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. Dunford has been nominated to be the commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and commander of the US forces in Afghanistan. Jason Reed/Reuters

A woman photographs Israeli soldiers on top of an armored personal carrier close to the Israel-Gaza border in southern Israel. Israel's prime minister says the army is prepared for a "significant widening" of its operation in the Gaza Strip and that Israel has "made it clear" it won't tolerate continued rocket fire on its civilians. Ariel Schalit/AP

A Palestinian demonstrator runs through a cloud of tear gas during clashes against Israel's operations in Gaza Strip, outside Ofer, an Israeli military prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah. Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cut short a trip to Europe to deal with the crisis. Majdi Mohammed/AP

A woman feeds her child at Shwedagon Pagoda during prayers in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar ordered 452 prisoners freed Thursday in an apparent goodwill gesture ahead of a historic visit by President Barack Obama, but activists criticized the move for failing to focus on hundreds of political detainees. Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP

US artist Nathan Sawaya poses beside his creation "Blue Guy Sitting" before the media preview of his 'The Art of the Brick' exhibition at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore. Edgar Su/Reuters

A man walks along a tree-lined street on a cold and hazy morning in Berlin. Thomas Peter/Reuters

The Chairman of the Jewish Claims Conference Julius Berman (center l.) and and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble (center r.) sign an new article of the Luxembourg Agreement at a ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of the contract in Berlin, Germany. With the Luxembourg Agreement of 1952, the Federal Republic of Germany assumed responsibility for the consequences of Nazi Germany’s genocide of European Jewry. Markus Schreiber/AP

Protesters clash with police before a conference of Greek and German mayors in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki. Dozens of anti-austerity protesters broke into a conference and clashed with police to demonstrate against the presence of a German government official. Nikolas Giakoumidis/AP

People walk by the graffiti that depicts Russia's last Czar, Nicholas II in downtown Belgrade, Serbia. Serbian nationalists favor close political and military ties with Russia, accusing the US of being anti-Serb because of the 1999 US-led NATO bombing of Serbia and America's support for the independence of Kosovo. Darko Vojinovic/AP

Mary Phelan holds a picture of Savita Halappanavar in protest outside University Hospital Galway in Galway, Ireland. The Irish government pledged to urgently clarify its vague abortion laws after an Indian woman died in an Irish hospital after being denied a termination, sparking an outcry from voters and criticism from the Indian government. Cathal McNaughton/Reuters

Volunteers make kimchi, a traditional South Korean pungent vegetable, to donate to needy neighbors in preparation for the winter season, in front of the Seoul City Hall in Seoul, South Korea. About 2,200 housewives made 270 tons of kimchi which is made with cabbage, other vegetables and chili sauce.(AP Photo/ Ahn Young-joon/AP

Incoming House freshmen of the 113th Congress pose for a group photo on the East steps of the US Capitol in Washington, D.C. Susan Walsh/AP

Tibetan activists wear masks depicting new politburo members of the Chinese Communist Party headed by Xi Jinping during a protest in Dharmsala, India. Xi succeeded Hu Jintao as China's leader, assuming the top posts in the Communist Party and the powerful military in a once-a-decade political transition unbowed by scandals, a slower economy and public demands for reforms. Ashwini Bhatia/AP

Television broadcasting transmitters are bathed in red light emitted by a radio mast at 1,528 meters (5,013 feet) above sea level at La Barillette in the Jura mountains, western Switzerland. David Azia/AP

A pensioner talks to a friend (unseen) while sitting on a mobility scooter in Corporation Street in Corby, central England. Britain's ruling Conservatives are expected to lose the bellwether seat of Corby to Labour in a parliamentary by-election as voters register a protest against austerity and economic malaise. Eddie Keogh/Reuters

Visitors looks on a professional diver wearing a Santa Claus suit while swimming inside a giant aquarium as part of celebrations for Christmas at the Manila Ocean Park. The Philippines, a mainly Roman Catholic country in Southeast Asia, celebrates one of the longest Christmas holiday in the world playing Christmas carols in shopping malls in September and putting up lantern and fireworks early in December. Romeo Ranoco/Reuters

A bus driver sits inside a bus as a huge screen showing a live broadcast of China's new Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping speaking during a press event to introduce the newly-elected members of the Politburo Standing Committee, is reflected in a window, in Beijing. Andy Wong/AP

A small house fly sits on the wet leaf of a plant at Blueberry Park in Bremerton, Wash. Meegan M. Reid/Kitsap Sun/AP

Cynthia Odigie (r.) awaits her eviction in Barcelona, Spain. The Spanish government passed a decree suspending evictions of the most vulnerable homeowners unable to pay their mortgage, a bid to ease a trend that has seen hundreds of thousands of people lose their homes. The eviction was finally suspended. Manu Fernandez/AP

Fan Ling plays table tennis with his feet at school in Fuzhou, Fujian province, China. Fan is a sophomore at Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University. This fall, Fan was on the reality show "China's Got Talent," local media said. Sheng Li/Reuters

Ten-year-old Phart Phors carries her sister as they wait for their mother, who was arrested earlier, outside a police station in Phnom Penh. Police in Cambodia arrested at least eight people for painting messages on their homes near the capital's airport asking for help from US President Barack Obama because they face eviction before he visits the country next week. Samrang Pring/Reuters

People stand in line for food and supplies distributed by a neighborhood block association in the Midland Beach area of Staten Island, New York, November 14, 2012. Many residences of Staten Island are still without power over two weeks after the superstorm hit the East Coast. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Women break bricks as they work in a brick field on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Andrew Biraj/Reuters

Two dockers (l.) watch a group of protesting fishermen approach as a fellow fisherman (r.) takes a break from the action, in El Callao, Peru. Local fishermen fear eviction from the fishing docks in Callao due to the expansion of the Danish port operator APM Terminals. Rodrigo Abd/AP

The main building at Grouse Mountain Lodge is bathed in late afternoon sun in West Vancouver, British Columbia November 14, 2012. Andy Clark/Reuters

On Friday, Russia's sports ministry denied accusations of state-sponsored doping that implicate more than 1,000 athletes across more than 30 sports in sample swapping, tampering with samples, and taking steroid cocktails designed to evade Olympic testing.